Pushbullet updates to take advantage of Marshmallow’s manual permissions

All-in-one messaging, notification and file transfer utility Pushbullet has received an update today which takes advantage of the latest updates to Android 6.0. The update takes advantage of the Manual Permissions that can restrict apps, as well as offering a new way to share information or data.

The Manual Permissions in Marshmallow are perhaps the single greatest privacy tool available on Android today – well, except those apps that stop people swiping to the left or right on pics in your gallery. The permissions offer you a way to restrict what the app can access, and well if you don’t think that Pushbullet needs to access your SMS, then you can now restrict it if you’re running Marshmallow. In terms of which permissions Pushbullet will ask you for, the team said:

Pushbullet may ask for up to 4 permission groups: SMS, Contacts, Phone, and Storage. We work the permissions requests into our setup process and feel this results in a more transparent app.

The Pushbullet team has also included an update to the Direct Sharing capabilities of the utility, adding the ability to directly share with Pushbullet on devices, or Pushbullet targets from within your share intents menu. The direct sharing option means you can push information in the form of apps and more to recently used devices, making it easier to share information around.

The update is rolling out to users via the Google Play Store. We recently made use of Pushbullet to quickly notify all our readers almost the minute that Nexus phones went on sale on the Google Store in Australia – a big win. If you’re a fan of Pushbullet, then you’ll probably like the Direct Sharing feature, so make sure you update. If you’re lucky enough to be using Marshmallow already, you’re going to love the new configurability of the permissions.

Daniel Tyson Editor

Dan is a die-hard Android fan. Some might even call him a lunatic. He's been an Android user since Android was a thing, and if there's a phone that's run Android, chances are he owns it (his Nexus collection is second-to-none) or has used it.

Dan's dedication to Ausdroid is without question, and he has represented us at some of the biggest international events in our industry including Google I/O, Mobile World Congress, CES and IFA.